The conversion ratio of advertisements is an important measure of the effectiveness of the advertisements and directly translates into return on investment (“ROI”) for the advertiser. For example, the conversion ratio can be thought of as the percentage of customers that take a specific action, such as make a purchase or visit a store location, based on an advertisement impression. Advertisers can use this information to improve their process of selecting potential customers to serve advertisements to. Furthermore, the knowledge of a positive ROI makes it easier for the advertisers to justify advertisement expenditures.
Accurate conversion logging is one of the benefits of online advertising, typically enabled through the use of browser cookies and script snippets on advertisers' landing pages. For example, advertisers may be able to view the percentage of users that selected an advertisement and also added an item to their virtual shopping cart or completed a purchase online. However, brick and mortar businesses, such as restaurants, retail shops, and service providers, are not able to measure the effectiveness of an online advertisement campaign in the same manner. The most relevant conversion logging for these businesses occurs by receiving a telephone call or having a customer visit their store. Conventional conversion logging mechanisms are unable to log such signals.